State officials announced the first colleges and universities selected as part of a program that will help students pay for college if they complete community service during an academic year.
Nearly 50 schools were chosen to be part of the first round of funding for the state’s College Corps, including California State University East Bay, San Francisco State University and University of California Berkeley.
More than 6,000 students across the 45 campuses will be chosen to participate in the College Corps, which will place students in community service programs focusing on K-12 education, climate change and food insecurity.
College Corps members who complete 450 hours of community service by the end of the academic year, starting with the fall 2022 term, will receive $10,000 to put toward their educational expenses.
“This amount is significant because it will cover the amount that Pell Grant recipients are expected to come up with by either taking out a loan and going into debt or working long hours at a job while they’re in school,” state Chief Service Officer Josh Fryday said during a virtual briefing to announce the College Corps schools.
Participating students will also receive academic credit for their community service, with the amount to be determined by each campus participating in the program.
Application information for the College Corps is expected to be available by March, according to state officials.
Fryday compared the College Corps to the G.I. Bill, which offered benefits to veterans of the Second World War and helped millions of veterans attend colleges and universities.
“If you’re willing to serve your community and give back in a meaningful way, we are going to help you pay for college,” he said.
10 comments
How interesting this is announced shortly after press release bemoaning dropping enrollment in previous Claycord post, “The number of undergraduates in California colleges dropped by about 250,000 between fall 2019 and fall 2021 …”
Is state trying to keep tenured instructors, most of whom vote DEM, from being laid off ?
Your comment is off the mark. In general, tenured and tenure-track professors can’t be laid off regardless of student enrollment. And at least in Cal State they are the minority of the instructional faculty (something like 25%). The rest are non-tenured professors and lecturers, many of them part time and making something like $30K/year. Who can be let go at any moment, even if they vote Dem.
It sounds like this money will mostly go to low-achieving Black and Hispanic students, who can’t meet 3.0 GPA requirement of Cal Grants. Which is what “Chief Service Officer Josh Fryday” meant when he said about covering the gap left by Pell Grants (which don’t have a minimum GPA requirement).
Also it’ll likely go to illegal immigrants, who aren’t eligible for Pell Grants. A few well-connected whites and Asians will probably sneak in as well.
Whether or not it’ll be money well-spent is anyone’s guess. Since this program seems to focus on low-achieving students, it is quite likely that they will drop out no matter what and the money will be wasted. But it sure beats the medium-speed train from Bakersfield to Merced with a price tag of $70 billion.
@tashaj You hit it spot on.
This is definitely a giveaway to DACA and low performing students, who, as you said, are ineligible to receive Pell Grants.
I would add that any high school student who cannot maintain a 3.0 GPA has no business asking for a state grant (he probably has no business attending college as well.) He will most likely fail. If he wants to take that risk on his own dime, more power to him. But the taxpayer should not be funding a losing bet.
I can’t wait to see the list of community host organizations the colleges select for their students. La Raza will be one of the first, no doubt.
Note that of the $10,000 students receive, $7,000 is a housing stipend and $3,000 is for tuition. Could it be the schools need a way to fill their new dorms following the lockdowns and the loss of dorm revenue due to so many kids distance learning from here on out?
tashaj, … Thank You for information. Was not aware just how much of a Golden Ticket tenure affords those who have it.
How about the STATE help us clean up the community by NOT ALLOWING all of the homeless everywhere. Peeing and pooping and taking drugs and murdering people. That would be even better.
So who decides what is community service?
Is helping your elderly neighbor pull weeds or marching in BLM riots, community service?
Or how bout serving at your local church?
Yeah, I see a few holes in this plan … but then again, Newscum endorsed it …
What kind of proof is required? Do you need to show a photo ID?
Question…When I graduated from high school in the mid 70’s one of the requirements was 80 of some type of community service. And yes I graduated from a district in the bay area, but not the Mt Diablo district. Is this still not happening. Point is this led me and many of my classmates into a life long community service mode.
I’m currently a member of an international non-political service organization and a small local arts organization. Both are really fun and the members can feel good about the accomplishments and both are happy to have as much time and effort as a person is capable of giving.
I think this is an excellent program to get people out of the selfish “me me me” mode at a young age.
What about the senior citizens who are on a fixed income and are giving hundreds of hours to the community? Why aren’t they eligible for this money?
BTW, many seniors were also not eligible for the COVID relief checks, but the fallout of the pandemic is hitting this population just as hard.
$22.20 an hour. Will that be a taxable event?
Can students volunteer at a Church or for a Conservative organization, or just those approved of by Gavin the Goon?
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